Closer to the Edge
by Nil1875
Summary: Stella centric story, set around the end of season 6 or possibly into 7. Can be seen as an Exit fic or not. This is a Songfic and a Oneshot. Mentions of Don/Stella and Mac/Stella. K Please Review!


**Title:** Closer to the Edge  
**Main focus:** Stella  
**Summery: **This is a songfic that mostly centers on Stella. Could be seen as a way for her to leave the show or not, either way, it's set pretty late in the series. I don't want to spoil anything so more after the story. Enjoy!  
**Song:** Closer to the Edge - 30 Seconds to Mars

* * *

_I remember one moment,  
I tried to forget,  
I lost myself, is it better not said,  
Now I'm closer to the edge. _

Stella sat down at her desk and pulled a worn photo out of the space behind her badge. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching her as she carefully flattened out the top corner that always crinkled up. She smiled at the little picture and blinked back her tears.

A knock on her door had her hastily hiding the picture beneath her desk and looking up. Mac was standing outside her office. She waved him inside and quickly wiped away the lone tear that had made it's way down her cheek.

"You ok Stella?" Mac asked with concern.

"I'm fine, it's nothing," she dismissed quickly.

"Well…when you're ready, I'm always here," he said knowingly.

Stella nodded and continued on with her day, later making sure to tuck the photo back where it belonged.

_It was a thousand to one,  
And a million to two,  
Time to go down in flames and I'm taking you,  
Closer to the edge. _

Bullets flew past her head as Stella threw herself behind the Avalanche, drawing her gun. She took a deep breath and swung around, firing at the other shooter from around the end of the truck.

"Stella! Stella can you hear me?" Mac shouted. His voice was small and barely reached her as it came through her cell phone, which lay open on the ground a few feet away and directly in the line of fire.

"I'm fine Mac, I need back-up!" she shouted as more bullets whizzed past her, hitting the buildings and the truck. A low bullet hit the phone and destroyed it, cutting off her connection to her team.

Stella closed her eyes and leaned against the car. She mentally calculated how many rounds she had left in her gun. Not enough. She didn't have her vest and she didn't have a spare clip.

_No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again,  
No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again, _

"Stella!" The radio in her truck crackled to life and she heard the voice of Don Flack coming through the speakers. She could hear sirens in the distance.

"Hang on Stella, we're almost there!" he shouted.

Within minutes the street was filled with police cars and the shootout continued to rage. Stella found herself being dragged away, securely in the arms of Mac Taylor as Flack directed a squad of riot cops with shields to protect them.

In the Ambulance Mac held her badge carefully as the EMT treated the gunshot wound to her shoulder. At the hospital after she was out of surgery he handed it back to her, with the photo on top.

"Someone's looking out for you Stella," he said quietly.

She moved the photo and saw a bullet embedded in the center of her badge. She had been wearing it on her coat pocket, right over her heart.

"Mac…"

"It's alright. When you're ready."

_Can you imagine a time when the truth ran free,  
The birth of a song and the death of a dream,  
Closer to the edge._

Stella stood in the rain, looking up at the building with sadness in her eyes. Her right hand absently rubbed her bandaged arm inside it's sling and she flinched a little. Her hand reached into her pocket and grasped her badge, running a thumb over the bullet that could have killed her.

Her phone rang, but she ignored it. She knew it was Mac.

"Stella."

She turned her head and saw him standing there beneath an umbrella and frowning softly.

"Hey Mac…"

"Come on. Lets get you home." He wrapped his arm around her and brought her under the umbrella, walking her home and making sure she was asleep before he left.

_This never ending story,  
Paid for with pride and fate,  
We all fall short of glory,  
LOST IN OUR FATE. _

"You'll be back on active duty in a couple months, after the doctors clear you."

"About that Mac…" Stella shifted a little. A week had passed since her shooting and she was back to work, with limitations. "I don't want to go back out there. I want to stay in the lab."

Mac raised an eyebrow. This was not something he expected to hear from his best detective. He knew that being shot was traumatic, but she was so strong. She must have another reason. His mind flashed to the picture quickly and he thought he understood.

"Are you sure Stel?"

"I'm sure. I'm too old to be getting shot at," she smiled. She winced as pain shot through her should and she grimaced. "Besides. This is really starting to hurt way too much."

_No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again,  
No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again. _

Stella pushed back the last piece of paperwork for the evening and smiled. She moved her arm and sighed at the happy return of full mobility and absence of pain. It had taken a few weeks but she could be almost normal again.

She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 7:30. A giddy happiness overcame her and she jumped up, grabbing her coat and keys and left her office.

"Leaving already?" Mac asked as he passed her in the hall.

She grinned and hugged him, kissing his cheek as she pulled away. "I have somewhere important to be," she said. "I'll see you in the morning."

_I will never forget,  
No, no,  
I will never regret,  
No, No,  
I WILL LIVE MY LIFE. _

Halfway across town Stella was once more in front of the house she had been that night when it was raining. She knocked on the door and smiled when a woman answered it.

The woman showed her into the kitchen where a cooing met her ears and she wanted to cry with joy.

"Hi my baby" she whispered. "I'm here. I'm here forever, I promise. I'll never leave you my love."

The smiled never left her face as she and the woman talked well into the night. Finally around midnight she headed home with a wave. She took a deep breath as she carefully made her way home with her sleeping companion. Tomorrow would be a long day for them both.

_No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again,  
No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again. _

More nervous then she though was possible, Stella stepped off the elevator at 10AM the next morning. As she walked slowly to her office, the light giggling that followed her attracted the attention of her co-workers and they converged on her office.

Mac was already there, sitting in her desk chair and he smiled widely when she came in.

"Hi Mac," Stella said quietly.

"Hi Stella." He stood up and came over to her. "And who is this little angel?" he asked, tweaking the chin of the little blond haired, blue eyed girl on Stella's hip gently, making her laugh

"Mac, this is Athena. My daughter."

"She's beautiful Stella."

Athena laughed and reached for Mac, insisting on transferring herself onto him and latching her arms around his neck.

Stella laughed and the rest of the team moved forward to meet the little secret in Stella's life.

Only Don held back and when Stella looked over at him, he nodded slowly and walked away.

_No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again,  
No, I'm not saying I'm sorry,  
One day maybe we'll meet again. _

Stella turned back to her friends, sadness evident in her eyes, but she smiled and took her daughter from Lindsey when Athena reached for her.

Mac's eyes twinkled and Danny rambled on about how he would spoil her as much as Lucy.

When the others had left and it was just Stella and Mac, she set Athena down and watched her totter slowly around the room on unsteady legs.

"How long have you known?" she asked, not willing to meet his eyes.

"Don told me when it happened."

Stella winced. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I knew you'd tell me when you were ready," Mac said as he pulled her into a hug and kissed her hair.

"Does this change things?" she asked.

"With us? No. Never. I love you Stella. And I hope you'll let me love Athena like she was my own."

Stella smiled and leaned back into his arms as they watched the little girl play with the couch pillows.

"I love you, Mac."

_Closer to the edge._

_

* * *

_**Explanations you may want:**_  
_1. Athena is Don's child, but things didn't work out between him and Stella. He will still be a major part of Athena's life and she will essentially have two fathers growing up.  
2. During the past year Athena has been living with Don's sister, because Stella had to work out her own demons. You may think this is a bad thing, that Stella was abandoning her, but she went to see her almost every day and always loved her, she just didn't know quite how. As for Don his job prevented him from taking her and Stella refused to let him quit. Or something, I'm not as sure with him. Maybe he also has his own issues.  
3. Don is still in love with Stella but he respects that things won't work between them and that she's with Mac.  
4. Mac and Stella are together at the end of the story and have been since Stella was shot.  
5. There will NOT be a continuation to this as it is a oneshot.

Thank you very much and all reviews are appriciated!


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